Thousands scramble for luck amid chaos in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

Locals in Long An Province let loose at a festival with sacred offerings up for grabs.

Locals in Tam Vu Town in Long An Province climbed all over each other on Saturday night as they battled to get at least one piece of the offerings made at their town’s temple on the final day of a three-day festival on the 14th, 15th, 16th of the first lunar month.

This festival is dedicated to a god known as Tieu, who is believed to have the power to capture demons and bad souls.

The ritual started at around midnight, and thousands of people, mostly young men, gathered around the temple waiting for the ritual to finish so they could start the mad scramble in for the offerings.

When the clock hit midnight, an effigy of Tieu was set alight to indicate that all the souls had been rescued.

These young men reached out for offerings. Locals believe that they are sacred and can bring them luck, while at the same time the event is "so much fun”.

As soon as the effigy had disintegrated, the crowd trampled down a makeshift fence to rush into the temple’s yard for the offerings. “Trampling the fence is not a spontaneous act or unthoughtful, it's a tradition,” explained Nguyen Van Bach, 68.

Young men turned over tables so that people could find the offerings, which included cakes, candies, snacks and flowers.

This year is the year of the dog, so this effigy of a dog is very valuable, which explains why these men were fighting for it.

After 20 minutes when the chaos finally came to an end, these people moved in to pick up whatever was left behind. Phuong, the man with the bag, said people take them home for luck and prosperity.

Quynh Giao, 17, said she chose flowers and traditional cakes that she could keep for several days on the altar at home.